Sunday, May 1, 2011

Two brewpubs in Vienna

There are many pubs and taprooms in Vienna. If you want a beer, it is easy to find somewhere to drink. Among the pubs there are also several brewpubs spread around the Austrian capital.

One of the brewpubs is the 1516 Brewing Company. It is based in Schwarzenbergstraße street in the city centre. If you take the tram to Schwarzenbergplatz, it is just a short walk to the brewpub. I was visiting the 1516 Brewing Company on an evening in April. It was a soccer game on the screens, and the place was packed. There was nowhere to sit down, so I decided to leave the brewpub for now.

Instead I went into the nearby Schellinggasse street, which also has a brewpub. The screens in the Schwarzenberg Stadtbrauerei also showed soccer, but there were several places to sit down. I guess Schwarzenberg Stadtbrauerei is not as popular as the 1516 Brewing Company among the local soccer crowd.

It was time for a beer, so I ordered a Schwarzenberg Helles. It was one of five draught beers on offer. They also sold a dark beer (Dunkles), a wheat beer and a honey beer. If you like a mix of pale and dark beer, a G'mischtes was also available.

Schwarzenberg Helles must be considered another decent pale lager. In the glass it had nearly no carbonation and a large head. It had an aroma with a touch of malts, and in the mouth I felt more malts, some bread and some bitterness. It was a nice lager, and I felt it was a great session beer for Summer.

I should have tried some of the other beers at Schwarzenberg Stadtbrauerei, but the helles was more than good enough that evening. After another half litre of helles, I left the brewpub in a good mood.